A pros and cons list of the various methods and types of food for storage that you may consider in your overall diversified food storage plan.

Freeze-Dried Food

Pros

Long shelf life
Very lightweight
Very low moisture
Reconstitutes quickly
Best way to dry meat items
Generally tastes better than dehydrated
Retains original shape, texture, color after reconstitution

Cons

Most expensive food storage option
Most items require water to prepare
Items are bulkier than if dehydrated
If purchased in Mylar pouches, they’re susceptible to puncture

Dehydrated Food

Pros

No waste
Lightweight
Low moisture
Long shelf life
Not easily spoiled

Cons

Requires water to prepare
Some items have poor visual appeal
Some items lose taste after reconstitution
Some items take a long time to reconstitute
Dehydration process can affect nutritional value

MRE (Meal Ready to Eat)

Pros

Convenient to use
Familiar foods available
Requires no water to prepare
No mixing or blending required
Can be heated for hot meal by many methods
Can be eaten right from pouch without preparation

Cons

Taste of MREs considered poor by some
Not intended for long term consumption
Artificial additives added in many recipes
Expensive considering actual food received
Entrees alone will not supply adequate nutritional value
Because of foil pouch, they are susceptible to puncture
Can be heavy if larger quantities need to be transported
Many entrees more like sauces & require additional quality carbohydrates for a filling meal

Commercially Canned Food

Pros

Wide variety of canned foods
Secure packaging-containment
Readily available at all grocery stores
Moderate shelf life, generally 3-years – depending on food
‘Real’ shelf life often much longer than posted without issues

Cons

Heavier than dried foods
Difficulty in freezing conditions
Heavier than dehydrated, freeze-dried
Typically lots of preservatives-salt, etc.
Not as practical for on-the-go or carrying
Exposure to water-humidity promotes rust
Requires more physical space than other types of processing

Emergency Food Bars

Pros

Cons

Limited nutritional value
Not everyone likes the taste
Not adequate for prolonged use
Not a satisfying substitute for a hot meal

Grains, Beans, Basic Commodities

Pros

Low cost
Good nutritional value
The basic food staples – very important
Very long storage life if stored properly
Essential ingredients for sustaining life
Many sprout-able seeds, grains, and beans increase nutritional value

Cons

More time consuming to prepare
Heavy weight – meant for storage, not portability
Not generally appropriate for shorter term emergencies
Time is required to adapt to basic commodity oriented diet
Requires relatively large quantities of water and fuel to prepare
For calories, a fairly large quantity must be consumed when eaten exclusively.

There are use-case scenarios for all of the above while variety and diversification are important for your overall food storage plan. The partial list above should give you some ideas to consider while there are MANY additional food types and compliments to add to one’s storage.

We maintain what is called a deep pantry that is over stocked with standard grocer items, as well as #10 cans of basic staples such as pinto beans, white rice, white flour, oats, etc. With only a couple exceptions, all of our supplies are used and rotated regularly. The exceptions mentioned are things like powdered eggs and milk to be used in cooking, and, for us, are strictly long term items that will probably only be used in the event of a true emergency, and for practice (occasionally, we pick a weekend and treat our fridge as tho it didn’t exist, preparing our meals strictly from items in our storage pantry). We have a year’s worth of food stores, with very little of it being of the “for emergencies only” type. Our stores are not limited to food, storing an equally long supply of most other items our family uses. We are pretty stable in our system now, and only re-stock once a month.

Good article. There is more to this though since within each category there are some food items that offer more “pros” then the others in their group. For example rice. White rice is easy to prepare, can be combined with almost anything to make a delicious meal and is cheap, easy to store and has a great weight to calorie ratio. powdered or flaked potatoes have a similar list of advantages. Wheat is awesome in every category except ease of preperation but it’s utility out weighs that minor negative.

I think that if you find any kind of dehydrated food that you want, you should order it. They might be expensive but they work. I have eaten MRE’s before they are not that bad. It’s easy to prepare and good food.

i take a CKN terriaki noodle tray, add 2-3 oz of crushed deHydrated veggies, AND 3OZ EXTRA WATER..,Cook according to package instructions, add a can of chicken(5-10 oz depending),reheat for 70 seconds in microwave.. becomes an entree for TWO. I serve with a side of vegetable from the night before.

I think MRE’s are very badly maligned. If you serve it to people without telling them that they were MREs, most will eat them without complaint.

The big advantage is that they’re convenient. You have a meal with a dessert. You have an accessory pack with matches, toilet paper (good fire starter), instant coffee, sugar, and more. They do have a good amount of salt in them but in a stressful environment, that is not always a bad thing. BTW, the Army recommends you do not eat more than 3 weeks of steady MREs without a break. One of the best things to eat while on the move or in a cold camp.

Canned foods were my number one choice, but the salt is just way too much. Canned fruits and veggies are not so bad. I am starting to get into dehydrating food though. Overall I imagine a balanced approach of all of the aforelisted items in the article is probably the best bet. And probably not too diffcult to acquire and store. For me, the less expensive, the better. Freeze dried foods are definitely last on my shopping list, but they have admittedly served me well in the past. Self dehydrated foods seems to be the ticket for me for fruit and meats.

In regard to dehydrating foods, for me, electricity cost is a consideration. I’m looking at a portable solar generator that you can plug anything into for around $1250. I just may get it, and I’m sure I can make it pay for itself for dehydrating and using it to power around the house appliances like a big tv or the fridge. In a SHTF scenario, just having one already pays for itself.

Been storing food for about 20 years, not in great amounts but 2 months good eating out of cans and 4 months dipping into the beans, rice and wheat. Some Freeze Dried stuff for a short term bug out. Check it every 6 months rotate most cans to table at 3 years, sweets, potato chips, munchies 1 year. Played with bread making and sprouting. We eat what we buy. Axman

I was looking at foods from a convenience point of view. No prep: Energy bars, trail mix and meat sticks even dehydrated food are simple to eat on the side of the trail they don’t provide what a hot full meal would.

Some prep: MRE’s can be eaten cold and on the go this is handy if your keeping a low profile.
Caned food falls into the some prep category.

Full prep
Fresh food, rice, beans and wheat all take time to prepair.

I was hunting recently and after hauling a pack around for several days is a great time to evaluate what you carry.
For a multi day trip the freeze dried becomes a better option but I found for 0-3 days a mix of energy bars, trail mix, meat sticks, and MRE type food was the best option.
Food and water will fill a pack very quickly, I uaually carry 2 quarts of water with the ability to boil, treat and filter more.
Thanks for the great info

does there exist a chart comparing by weight fresh, freeze dried and dehydrated fruit and vegetables? I would like the ability to compare and consider the cost of the processing. The cost per pound of vegetables at the grocer is available. how much does a pound of freeze dried potatoes weigh?

A pound of fresh vegetables is one pound. A pound of dehydrated vegetables is one pound.
The difference is in the amount of servings.
If you want 4 oz servings, the fresh you would prepare 4 ounces to begin..and you would prepare only 2 ounces of dehydrated, by soaking those dehydrated veggies in very warm water for 30-40 min, (unless you will be placing in a stew or something similar and stewing for a long time)..
Even then, they turn out better if soaked for a while..they are cooked, so can use them dry with extra water to drink like jerky, but need good teeth! a pound of fresh veggies will have 4 -4 oune servings and a lb of dehydrated, will contain 8 -2 oz/dehydrated or 4 oz.rehydrated..Use the water in your recipe if there is any left, it has vitamins. Okra is especially good dehydrated. it rehydrates in abt. 45 min, then treat it like you would fresh to fry. Squash same way, and all you need to do to dehydrate either.is wash and drain, slice. Hope this answers your question.
General rule is double the dehydrated weight is same amount as same vegetable in fesh.Meats multiple the weight by 3, to dehydrate, 3 lbs becomes approx one lb once processed and fully dehydrated.

Something I was looking for above but didn’t see was shelf life i.e. the above ex. compared to canned food like my wife has started using a pressure cooker & jars. Any response back to the conservativeoldtimer would be appreciated.

I am not sure if this answers your question, but we (pressure)can more meat than veggies. 2 weekends ago, we used hamburger that we canned in Feb.2012, still good. We also have bacon, stew meat, chicken, steak, beef and pork roast, and venison.
If you are wondering about the shelf life of ” home canned” food,
I can only say from our experience that we have used ours up to 5 years, and it was still good.

Survival blog topics for a life of preparedness and risk awareness; emergency, disaster, SHTF collapse, or threats thereof...

MSB

The content on ModernSurvivalBlog.com is general information and opinion, and provided "as-is" without warranty. Any author of content appearing on ModernSurvivalBlog.com may or may not have a financial interest relating to any referenced company. The advertisers appearing on ModernSurvivalBlog.com may or may not share the opinions of any content on this site. The reader is responsible for any and all actions and consequences thereof resulting from information or advertisement on ModernSurvivalBlog.com.